1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a movable console device having a rack-mount configuration.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various electronic devices, such as computers, designed to be mounted for use on a rack having predetermined mounting dimensions, have been developed as rack-mount type electronic devices having superior space-saving features. In the rack-mount type electronic devices, there is known a movable console device (or a so-called console drawer) provided with a console section including a keyboard (or an input unit) and a display (or an output unit), and a mount section for mounting the console section in a linearly movable manner onto a rack structure provided separately, wherein the movable console device can be taken in and out of the rack structure in a drawer-like manner (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-29565 (JP-A-2000-29565)).
In the movable console device described in JP-A-2000-29565, the console section includes receiving portions, defined inside a frame member (referred to as “a module” in JP-A-2000-29565) having predetermined dimensions, for individually receiving a keyboard and a display. The keyboard is fixedly placed on the frame member at a front side (i.e., a near side relative to, or as seen by, an operator) with the operating surface of the keyboard, on which a plurality of keys are arranged, being exposed. The display is placed on the frame member at a rear side (i.e., a far side relative to, or as seen by, an operator) and is rotatably mounted onto the frame member through a pivotal support mechanism such as a hinge. When the movable console device is not used, the display is accommodated in a receiving portion therefor in a flat or horizontal attitude with the screen surface of the display facing upward, and the screen surface is placed at substantially the same height as the operating surface of the keyboard. In this state, the console section exhibits a plate-like profile having a predetermined dimension as a whole, defined by the outer dimension of the frame member, and is contained in or inserted into the rack structure through the mount section. On the other hand, when the movable console device is used, the console section is drawn out of the rack structure through the mount section, and the display is rotated relative to the frame member, so as to extend outside the receiving portion, and is disposed at an operating position in which the screen surface of the display faces an operator at an appropriate angle.
JP-A-2000-29565 also discloses another movable console device configured so that, when the movable console device is not used, the display is laid on the keyboard with the screen surface of the display facing the operating surface of the keyboard. In this configuration, the height of the plate-like profile exhibited by the console section in the non-operating state is twice as large as that in the above-described configuration in which the keyboard and the display are arranged side by side in the non-operating state. In this connection, in the technical field of the rack-mount type electronic devices, the height dimension of the electronic devices to be contained in the rack structure has been standardized in such a manner that, for example, the height of a unit shelf zone in a so-called “19-inch width” rack structure is indicated as “1U (=44.45 mm)” (according to the EIA (Electronic Industries Association)). Further, as an improvement of the above configuration in which the keyboard and the display are disposed in a stacked manner in the non-operating state, a movable console device including a thinner console section able to be contained in the shelf zone of the standard unit height (1U) has been also developed.
As described above, in the conventional movable console device, the console section mounted onto the rack structure through the mount section is typically moved by linear translation, to be taken in or out of the rack structure, by a manual operation between a predetermined retracted position in which the console section is completely accommodated inside the rack structure and a predetermined drawn-out position in which the console section is sufficiently drawn out from the rack structure. Also, on the console section located at the drawn-out position, the display is typically displaced for rotation, to open or close a screen thereof, by a manual operation between a non-operating position in which the display is received in the receiving portion and an operating position in which the display extends from the receiving portion. These manual operations are labor-intensive for an operator and impose various burdens depending on the age, the gender, the physical functions, etc. of the operator. Further, the operating position of the display is typically set at a single position on the console section and, therefore, visibility may significantly vary depending on the viewing angle for observing the display.